Pets have been fed xe2x80x9cdryxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwetxe2x80x9d diets for many years. xe2x80x9cWetxe2x80x9d diets are generally packaged in a can-like container. They are xe2x80x9cwetxe2x80x9d in appearance because of the moisture therein. Generally two types of wet diets are presently prepared. One is usually referred to in the industry as ground loaf. This is generally prepared by contacting all the key components such as the meat and grain together with water and then heating and mixing together in a series of apparatuses, a single apparatus, or one apparatus, such as a thermal screw cooker/mixer. In this manner all of the major components as well as the minor components such as colorants, oils, vitamins, and vitamin-like materials are combined at an early preprocessing step and all processed together. Following this procedure an essentially homogeneous, intracellular honeycomb-type (hence xe2x80x9cground loafxe2x80x9d) mass is produced which is readily packaged into a cylindrical container. A second wet diet is generally referred to in the industry as xe2x80x9cchunk and gravyxe2x80x9d. This wet diet is usually produced by grinding meat, mixing, emulsifying, and then mixing the meat further with water, oil and grains and other materials if desired. This mixture is then fed into a cooking apparatus, emitted therefrom, cut, cooled and then sent for various stage fills. Usually in a two-stage fill, a gravy is added to the chunk. The gravy is prepared in the usual manner, for example, by mixing grains, starches, water, vitamins, if desired, and other materials into a mixing tank wherein it is heated and then fed to the container holding the chunky materials. As opposed to the ground loaf, this diet has physically separated, discrete chunks-pieces-of the ground meat and grains as prepared. These discrete particles are present in the gravy-type liquid in the final container. The product produced by xe2x80x9cchunks and gravyxe2x80x9d process has been used in pet food for many years.
As opposed to these standard forms of wet diet, a new composition, which can be potentially described as a hybrid of the two distinct physical forms of ground load and chunk/gravy, has now been discovered and is specifically designed for felines. The new physical form is prepared by a process which utilizes two distinct sub processes; a thermal process to preserve the physical and to an extent the chemical integrity of the meat component and a modified-gravy making process to bind the meat mix and the grain mix so as to enhance a xe2x80x9chearty-groundxe2x80x9d appearance which has visually recognizable discrete meat particles within the essentially homogeneous mass of the finished product. This new process can result in substantial cost reduction in capital investment for machinery as well as labor.
In accordance with the invention, there is a feline pet food composition comprising a meat based material having an essentially solid mass assuming the shape of the container in which it is packed, said pet food composition having visually recognizable discrete meat particles with a moisturized appearance upon slicing the pet food mass after departure from the said container.
A further aspect of the invention is a meat and grain based feline pet food composition, which visually is a hybrid between a ground loaf and chunk and gravy prepared by a process comprising
(a) heating the meat portion of the composition to a temperature at or below the denaturation point of the meat portion,
(b) separately from the meat portion, and portion (c) mixing grain or a mixture of grains together with water to a temperature that will achieve or essentially achieve hydration, gelatinization and retrogradation of the grain or mixture of grains,
(c) separately from the meat portion (a) and grain (b) preparing a viscosity building fluid or slurry which when combined together with components (a) and (b) forms at least an essentially homogeneous mass during a container filling process, and
(d) combining and mixing (a), (b) and (c) while maintaining temperature of combined mass.
A still further aspect of the invention is a process for preparing meat and grain based composition feline pet food, which comprises
(a) heating the meat portion of the composition to a temperature at or below the denaturation point of the meat portion,
(b) separately from the meat portion, and portion (c) mixing grain or mixture of grains together with water to a temperature that will achieve or essentially achieve hydration, gelatinization and retrogradation or mixture of grains,
(c) separately from the meat portion (a) and grain (b) preparing a viscosity building fluid or slurry which when combined together with components (a) and (b) forms at least an essentially homogeneous mass during a container filling process, and
(d) combining (a), (b), and (c) while maintaining temperature of combined mass.